The biggest rock band in the world has released their second greatest hits album, a compilation of songs from 1990-2000. These are the years of experimentation and questions, when the band hit their youthful idealism behind many facades. U2 redefined themselves in the 1990s, experimenting with techno music, fusing disco beats and rock 'n roll. It's not the U2 of the 1980s, but it's definitely cool.
Overall, this CD is a decent introduction to their work from the 1990s, but it is lacking. Several key songs are missing, such as "Ultraviolet," "Acrobat," "Please," "Mofo," and half of All That You Can't Leave Behind. It also includes two new songs (from 2002, not exactly within the time frame of the album's title) and a several remixes. The techno sound of U2 in the 1990s seems at odds with the newer material and even the stripped-down rock of All That You Can't Leave Behind. It seems like songs from All That You Can't Leave Behind and the newer material should have been saved for The Best of 2000-2010. But then there wouldn't be anything new to entice reluctant buyers.
The album does bring together a number of songs that only the fanatical U2 fan would already have, including "Miss Sarajevo" from the Passengers project and "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from Batman Forever.
The Best of 1990-2000 is a solid album, but it will leave some wondering if this is really the best, unlike The Best of 1980-1990, which was beginning to end number one singles. Perhaps like U2 in the 1990s, this album is about defying expectations.
The CD is also available as a 2-disc set with b-sides and remixes from the 1990s. There aren't as many b-sides as the 1980-1990 collection had, and some of the remixes don't seem worth it. But it is a chance to get many of the 1990 b-sides in one spot, and is ideal for the U2 nut.
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #99Reviewed by John J. ThompsonThere's this band from Ireland you might have heard of. They're called U2 and, simply put, they are one of the biggest, most influential, most successful and most profitable bands in the world. Oh yeah, they're Christians and they refuse to shelve either their Jesus-infected worldview or their status as Rock Stars of the first order. This two-disc collection, like the 80s volume that debuted in…ReAL Magazine 2002Reviewed by Kevin D. HendricksThe biggest rock band in the world just released their second greatest hits album, a compilation of songs from 1990-2000. These are the years of experimentation and mistrust, when the band lost their youthful idealism and began to show a darker side. It's also the time when they began experimenting with techno music, fusing disco beats and rock 'n roll. It's definitely not the U2 of the 1980s,…The Rebel Base 2002Reviewed by David MartinI've been on a bit of a U2 kick lately. Love 'em or hate 'em, you've gotta admit that the Irish foursome was one of the most influential bands (if not the most influential band) of the 80's. And probably the 90's as well, though that decade was a bit dicey for some U2 fans as their favorite stadium-ready rock band started to tinker around with weird electronics and more introspective, less…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Steve StockmanWell, if Bono has said that in the 80s U2 sang about what they believed in and the 90s about what they didn't believe in, welcome to "The Best of What They Didn't Believe In!" And yet of course the 90s was not without belief but this concentrated little retrospective does come up as a pretty dark perspective. We have "Mysterious Ways," "Miss Sarajevo," "Numb," "Until the End of the World," and…Similar sounding releases
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